Edward I (Edward the Elder)

1239 – He was born on the 17th day of June this year at the Palace of Westminster. From the time he was born until 1246, he was in the care of Hugh Giffard (the son of Godfrey Giffard) and his wife, Sybil, who had been one of the midwives at Edward's birth.

1254 – His first marriage was arranged by his father and Alfonso X of Castile. Edward crossed the Channel in June, and was knighted by Alfonso and married to Eleanor of Castile on 1 November of this year in the monastery of Las Huelgas.

1255 - Edward and Eleanor both returned to England.

1256 - In The chronicler Matthew Paris tells of a row between him and his father over Gascon affairs; Edward and Henry's policies continued to diverge, and on 9 September of this year, without his father's knowledge, he signed a treaty with Gaillard de Soler, the ruler of one of the Bordeaux factions.

1258 - Henry was forced by his barons to accede to the Provisions of Oxford; the barons also were opposed to the Lusignans, Henry's half-brothers; Edward was at this time an ally of the Lusignans.

1259 - The councilors do not appear to have had much effect on Edward's behavior, however, and on March 14 of this year, he made an alliance with the Earl of Gloucester, who had been a key instigator of the Provisions of Oxford. Thereafter Edward became more aligned with the barons and their promised reforms.

1265 – He showed his fighting prowess in defeating Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in this year, having previously been imprisoned by de Montfort at Wallingford Castle and Kenilworth Castle. He gained a reputation for treating rebels and other foes with great savagery.

1269 - In this year, Cardinal Ottobono arrived in England and appealed to Prince Edward and his brother Edmund to participate in the Eighth Crusade alongside Louis IX of France. In order to fund the crusade, Edward had to borrow heavily from Louis IX and the French.

1271 - Hugh III of Cyprus arrived with a contingent of knights. The arrival of the additional forces emboldened Edward, who engaged in a raid on the town of Ququn. Soon afterward Edward signed a ten-year peace treaty with Baibars.

1272 – He starts to reign from this year after the death of his father, King Henry III of England until the time of his death.

1274 - Upon hearing of the death of Henry III, Edward left the Holy Land and returned to England in this year.

1290 - Eleanor and Edward had sixteen children, and her death in this year, affected him deeply. He displayed his grief by erecting the Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night.

1299 – He married Marguerite of France (known as the "Pearl of France" by her English subjects), the daughter of King Philip III of France (Phillip the Bold) and Maria of Brabant, produced three children.

1305 - Late in his reign, he issued the first trailbaston commissions. It was also during his reign that the parliament began to meet regularly, though its use was still extremely limited to matters of taxation.

1307 – He died on the 7th day of July this year at Burgh-by-Sands, Cumberland on the Scottish border, and while on his way to wage another campaign against the Scots under the leadership of Robert of Bruce. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

2002 – He was voted the 94th greatest Briton in the 2002 poll of 100 Greatest Britons.